Someone mentioned the other day about teaching a cat not to bite. I would really REALLY like to learn this.
Also, can cats really be trained to do their bidness in the terlit?
Any other tricks I can have her do?
I trained my cat to post in the politics forums, and noone’s noticed yet.
[quote=“jdsmith”]Someone mentioned the other day about teaching a cat not to bite. I would really REALLY like to learn this.
Also, can cats really be trained to do their bidness in the terlit?
Any other tricks I can have her do?[/quote]
Yes a cat can be trained to use the toliet. And it can be trained to talk, as I’ve had the unfortunate experience of watching too many “America’s funniest videos” during dinner time with pops.
Yeah, she bit me too. Drew blood, the little devil! 
I’d say a loud, piercing cry of pain and anger should dissuade her.
Yeah, she bit me too. Drew blood, the little devil!
I’d say a loud, piercing cry of pain and anger should dissuade her.[/quote]
You mean like I did when I held her on my lap and tried to cut her nails?
She’s a very energetic lil’ thing; you definitely have to catch her when she’s groggy, just waking up. She doesn’t like to be picked up or bundled to have her claws clipped – instead, just as she’s waking, put her on, say, the bed facing you, reach under her front paws from in front and then clip. Patience and timing are the keys to success. Don’t push it if she struggles – just wait for the next opportunity a few hours later. 
I know someone who would shake a can filled with coins whenever her cat would bite. The noise would scare the cat and she’d run off. Took about 1 week and the cat stopped biting. I’ve also read about this method on many kitty sites. Good luck.
Temporal proximity of a consequence to the act is vital for effective behavior modification in animals. Unless you’re planning on carrying a can full of coins around with you whenever you play with the cat, I’d suggest sticking with the abovementioned loud yell. 
The can does work well, and any time you play with the cat, just grab the can, too. In fact, set up some play sessions/lessons for a few days until kitty gets the point. The coin can is supposed to work well for dogs, too, for whom the loud yell isn’t recommended.
I had a friend who kept a loaded squirt gun nearby for the times when his growing kitten would pounce and latch onto an ankle. Quite effective. Didn’t take too many squirts to put a stop to it. Worked for other stuff too. I once saw him take aim when the cat decided to use the speaker cover as a scratching post - never saw a cat jump straight up into the air like that before.
I’ve found “pooing” works well. Whenever my kitten started doing something she shouldn’t have been doing, I’d go “poo” and she’d run away. Now I can be across the room and say “poo” and she stops. My cat usually just smacks her when she gets too annoying.
Isalu used to be pretty bad about biting, especially while you pet him, but he seems to have gotten over that and Mariposa no longer uses my toes to sink her claws into when she wants to play. Let me tell you there’s no worse place to break out in cat scratch hives than the bottoms of your feet.
The water gun idea works. When I got my cat, 7 years ago she would scratch the sofa and eat my plants. 2 weeks of water gun retaliation and she stopped. Hasn’t scratched a sofa since.
[quote]
Unless you’re planning on carrying a can full of coins around with you whenever you play with the cat, I’d suggest sticking with the abovementioned loud yell. [/quote]
You may consider getting a holster
Yes, cats can be trained. They may not be as dopey and subservient as dogs, but they’re at least as smart. One just needs to (a) recognize that fact and not just dismiss them as untrainable and (b) be patient and persistent as one would in training any animal. . . including a child.
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … AND+tricks](Moscow Cat Theatre
I don’t know. I didn’t teach Mariposa how to fetch, but she does it much better than our golden retriever ever did, which in itself is remarkable considering she was a 4-month-old kitten when she started playing fetch. Fuzzer never gave the stick back voluntarily. 
I once had a cat who actually came when I called her. With my wife it takes considerably more work. But anyway, if I put my lower lip to my upper teeth and made squeaking noises, Yin would come running from wherever she was. And that was the only sound that ever did the trick. Used to amaze my friends – especially the cat owners among them – with that particular feat of derring-do. It’s also how I found her when she once got out of the house. I walked around the neighborhood making squeaking noises, but had to scrunch my face all up in order to make them loudly. Neighbors looked at me like I was insane. At the end of the street, though, Yin jumped out of the weeds and trotted right over to me. I tried getting my white cat, Yang, to respond to my calls, but I would just end up standing there squeaking while he lay there with a bemused WTF look on his face. I think he wanted some cat food
:roflmao: Typical cat… the “what’s in it for me” attitude.
Mariposa will come if I call out “Marimao” or “Mariboo” or “Marmee”, but not if I say “Mariposa”. And Isalu just doesn’t come unless there’s a bag of food involved. But Mariposa usually follows me everywhere so I don’t need to call her that often. Again, Isalu stays where he is and isn’t usually moved for anything except the promise of some tender vittles.
My cats also come when I call their names. They will also come crashing in from outside if I say “Food!”, even if I say it quite softly. Cinnamon also fetches paper balls and bring them to me to toss again, but I had to train her to do that with a lot of patience and hand actions. Violet is a semi-Persian who has the occasional poop-stuck-to-fur incident, and she never seems to notice and clean herself. However, all I have to say is “You’ve got poop on your butt.” and she’ll stop whatever she’s doing and start cleaning herself.
Mine don’t scratch or bite because since they were kittens I have always used toys or yarn only to play with them. No using hands or other body parts, because they need to learn that they should be gentle with sensitive extremities. Or who knows, maybe they just decided by themselves not to bite me. They’re cats afterall.
We always just squealed when the poopy tried to bite us (and often succeeded! Ouch!)
But he has relaxed soooo much over the last year (he’s now about 1 1/2) and he rarely bites. Just check for signs of irritation and know not to pick her up.
Also, give her a year or so and she’ll hopefully calm down a bit! 